Templar
by Fizzy 13
Summary: *Chapter 4 Uploaded! Some changes made to Chapter 3* It all begins with a mysterious invader infiltrating the AEGIS US headquarters and getting into a fight with the leader of the most powerful group of Gatekeepers in existence. Pls. R&R!!!
1. Templar of the Gate

**Chapter 1: Templar of the Gate**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GK. All I own are A: My original characters, and B: this damn computer!**

AN: This story like… starts in the US, and makes its way to Japan. You might not like my characters since they're probably snotty to ya. Aw hell! Just read it!

The twelve remaining AEGIS enforcers who were all that was left of the hundreds of men that were protecting the UN building, also AEGIS USA's headquarters, were emptying their rifle Magazines at a shadowy figure with a pair of black glowing energy blades emitting from his wrists. In his eyes, glowed a corresponding pair of black inner gates. He was fast, deflecting every single bullet before it even got within four feet of him. He slowly progressed towards the twelve, who were pulling back towards the revolving doors until they were practically acting as its shield… then he disappeared.

The next thing they knew, he was right in front of them. They started screaming as he slashed at them, killing three at a time. Two who were quick enough rushed into the doors as one pushed the emergency button located conveniently behind it. Thick titanium-steel double doors slowly began to move towards each other until the main entrance was no longer seen. One of the enforcers calmed down, reached for his communicator, and contacted Supreme Commander Steven Bates, 63 years old, who was safe in the base.

In the command room of AEGIS US, Steven Bates swiveled around in his egg chair and faced the monitor where the face of a scared man was. "What's the situation?" Bates asked him.

            "It wasn't just an invader, sir." He replied shakily.

            "Then what was it?" Bates inquired even deeper.

            "It was a… a… a…"

            "Calm down! What was it?" Bates gave the man a stern look.

            "It was a Gatekeeper, sir."

            "A Gatekeeper? Was it Shadow?"

            "No sir, it was different. He was using some kind of energy blade…a pair actually, to attack us. We didn't stand a chance!"

            "WHAT!?" Bates was shocked, "How!? No ordinary Gatekeeper could get into the building with the defense system we have set up! What happened to those?"

            "He destroyed them first, then focused his attack on the front."

            "Good Lord!" Bates exclaimed, "Get back down here ASAP!" 

            "Yes si—" he was cut off when a loud crash was heard and gunfire began to erupt. He then cut the transmission. The last thing Bates saw was the man poising his rifle, aiming at something.

            Bates was mad, and his face was decorated with beads of sweat when he swiveled around again to face a man of about 29 wearing a leather jacket, a white shirt, blue denim pants, high-soled, black, outdoor leather shoes, a ring with a red gem on his right hand, an AEGIS communication watch on his left wrist, and fingerless gloves. He had brown hair, and a hairdo with bangs just over his hazel eyes.

            Bates stared at him, getting the man's attention. _It's time_, he thought. Bates opened his mouth to speak, "Agent Donnehue, it looks like you'll have to go up there and stop him."

            Kyle Donnehue, leader of the Templar Gatekeeper force gave Bates a confident smirk and replied, "This should be good," as he removed the gem from his ring and uttered, "Unlock the Gate." White rings signifying his Gate power, the Gate of Light, appeared in his dilated pupils before another set of white rings showed up just beneath him. He slowly sank into the entrance until he was no longer seen, and the Gate disappeared.

            The Templar Gatekeepers were a more highly evolved breed then that of a normal Gatekeeper. Born with unbelievable Gate abilities, they are the best of the best, the cream of the crop. In fact, their Gate powers are so potent that the mere action of opening the Gate will give the owner enough power to destroy the world. This is why they were to wear these Gate-seals; advanced Gate-suppression devices conveniently compacted into little rings. They were designed to seal off or 'lock' the wearers Gate. All they had to do to unlock it was to remove the gem, which was like a switch of some sort. 

Although their Gates are not opened, they still exhibited powerful emissions from them. The same way a door that is unlocked displays vague forms of an opening, the same goes for them. The Gate does not need to be opened in order to use the power.

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The mysterious intruder surveyed the reception hall and calmed down. The blades disappeared as his gate closed and he dropped on a nearby couch. He was middle aged, with a beard that said it's been a long time since he shaved, black eyes, and messed up hair. Furthermore, to top off his style, he wore a Russian outdoor hat made from God knows what kind of animal's pelt, and matching wilderness clothes. _Dose guards were completely foolish to tink dat dey could stop me,_ he thought with a Russian accent as he took a piece of biscuit out of a pouch hanging from his belt and began to munch.

He almost shot up to the ceiling when his beeper rang all of a sudden. He reached for the small message box, and checked it, 'Phase one of the operation has been completed flawlessly. The spy is doing its job perfectly. Come and meet me at Tokyo Tower, Japan. From Cartegie,' it read. The man almost smiled as he mumbled, "Dees operation is too easy. I'll just get up and—" he froze in his mid-sentence when he sensed the incredible amount yet familiar power he was picking up from somewhere nearby. He scanned the surrounding area and stopped as he laid his eyes on an open Gate on the floor, with something that could be recognized as a man's head, slowly rising out. 

The form was at last completely out of his portal, revealing a very unimpressed Kyle Donnehue looking the intruder straight in the eye. Kyle's orbs widened in disbelief as he realized who the intruder was, "Alexei Goddarov!?" he questioned, astonished, "I thought you were dead!"

"Tings are never what dey seem, Kyle." The man replied.

"Why in the hell did you start working with the invaders!?" He changed from amazed to enraged. His former companion was now his enemy, and thus it was going to be hard to fight him.

"To tell you da truth, Kyle, I was jealous; jealous of your power. I was jealous of you, jealous of Jason, jealous of Mica, jealous of Eve, hell, I was even jealous of dat Japanese ten-year-old, Maya!" he paused in brief and thought, until he spoke once more, "And deeper steel…dat ominous little girl you call Darla. You had all of da powerful Gate abilities! But me, I was stuck wid my patetic Gate of Shields and Protection." He unlocked his Gate and a single blade extended from his wrist, "But now, look at me! My Negative Gate has made me stronger! Stronger even den you." he pointed at Kyle irately with his free arm, "Feel da power of da Gate of Black Edges!" he said as he charged at the leader of the Templar Gatekeepers at an alarming rate. 

Goddarov began to hack and slash at Kyle's general direction, but the agent always seemed to avoid his attacks with relative ease. Goddarov was at a loss. Even though he was already at a fighting pace, Kyle seemed to be so relaxed as he avoided his attacks. He then decided to use one of his newly developed techniques. "Harth Sickle!" A solid black sword sickle materialized in his hand. He grasped it out of mid air and began to move with incredible speed. He had become much faster than just a few moments ago. Kyle was shocked when Goddarov caught up with him and wounded his left side slightly. He recoiled in pain, clutching his injured rib, and retreated.

Goddarov just smiled and explained, "Each of my blades enhances different aspects of my abilities. My Harth Sickle greatly increases my speed." He appeared very proud of his powers.

"Great," Kyle said sarcastically, "I can't wait to see what other bits of cutlery you've got to throw." He then extended his palm towards Goddarov and commanded, "Photon Shot!" a ball of white light popped out of the small gate in front of his open palm and rushed towards Goddarov, who evaded the attack as though he had wings.

"Not bad," Goddarov said, "Now how about dis?" his eyes dilated as he commanded, "Black Slayer!" his Harth sickle disappeared and in its place poised a sword with a huge blade with ancient markings on it. "Can you guess what my Black Slayer does, Kyle?"

"No," he again said sarcastically, "What do you think I am, some kind of idiot!? Of course I could guess, judging from your next move, what your big fat sword does!"

Goddarov chuckled. "I like da way you make fun of da most serious of occasions, Kyle." 

He again rushed towards Kyle with the heavy sword in tow, and was about to slash the hell out of him, when Kyle abruptly uttered, "Prism Saber!" A white, radiant sword appeared in his hand just in time to fend off Goddarov's attack. The pressure was much greater than expected, and it looked like Goddarov had more enough strength to break Kyle's puny looking saber. 

Kyle then used a technique none of his companions had ever seen before, a last ditch attempt to win a reprieve from death at the hands of the enemy. Holding the Prism Saber with his right hand, he placed his left hand with his middle and forefinger extended in front of Goddarov's eyes, who met his, and said, "Flash Bow!" A small ball of light could be noticed concentrating on the tip of Kyle's middle finger, and Kyle knew what he had to do next. He closed his eyes just as the light exploded blinding Goddarov, and deafening the both of them, causing him to pull back.

"My eyes!" Goddarov bellowed, "You bastard!"

Protecting his face with his left hand and holding his blade with the other, Goddarov jumped back five meters, which was amazing for a man of his age, and said, "I have business elsewhere, Kyle." He made the sword disappear, "I'll be seeing you later." A black Gate appeared beneath Goddarov and began to swallow him until he was no more.

"Coward," Kyle muttered under his breath, "I'll find you soon enough." He turned in the direction of the elevator that led towards AEGIS US, but stopped halfway when he was disturbed by a beeping sound. He scanned the area searching for the source, and stooped down at his feet. There, he found it, a small black box. It was Goddarov's beeper. _The idiot must've dropped it,_ he thought as he picked it up and read the message, 'What's taking you so long? Why aren't you at Tokyo Tower yet? From Cartegie' 

"So that's where he's going, eh? Just wait for me, Alexei. I'll catch up with you soon enough."

He examined the last part of the message, 'From Cartegie'. "Cartegie, eh?" He mumbled to him self, The name sounded so familiar, but where--he was struck with realization once more, "But this can't be Hans Cartegie! He died with Goddarov during that mission!" He dropped the beeper and contacted Bates on his watch..

Bates' face appeared on the tiny monitor concealed by the face of the clock, "What happened?" Bates asked.

"He was good," Kyle replied.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He was a surprisingly tough opponent."

"Who was he?"

"A ghost from the past."

"Anybody you knew?"

"Goddarov."

"That's outrageous!" Bates retorted, "You of all people should know that he died during your mission to Sicily!"

Kyle had all but forgotten that incident, it happened several years ago. During that time, the only Templar Gatekeepers known to exist were Goddarov from Russia, who had the Gate of Shields and Protection, Hans Cartegie from Germany, who had the Gate of Purity and Healing, Kyle himself, an American, with the Gate of Light, and Jason Tripley from Australia, who owned the Gate of Burning Earth. They were in a cavern that night, and the invaders would not stop coming. They were marching from the depths of the mine, while others blocked the exit of the tunnel. They were caught in between.

"You go on ahead!" Goddarov yelled at the three, "I will try to stop dem!" He unlocked his Gate and commanded, "Hell Seal!" A six-foot-thick translucent, purple wall blocked the tunnel leading into the deep abyss of God knows where, impeding the invaders' advancement.

"Just what I need," Jason said, perkily, "Some covah! Now it's my tuhn!" his pupils dilated as his Gate was unlocked and he shouted, "Fire Stream!" The earth began to shake as pure hot magma began to ooze out of the ground just in front of Jason and started to creep towards the invaders who were blocking the entrance to the mine.

They began to burst into crystals as the magma seared them one by one until the exit was clear, and the lava receded into the crack in the earth. "All Cleah! Let's move out!" What Jason failed to notice, however, was that the invaders were piling up on the opposite side of their group, trying to push through the partition that Goddarov had created. Soon, a core invader appeared, and they began to fuse until a very large drill was formed.

Goddarov's eyes widened when he saw the drill moving in his direction. It began to thrust violently at the energy barricade, and it was slowly giving way. "I can't hold it off any longer!" He shouted at his comrades, "You have to get out now!" The three other Templar made a rush for the exit when the earth began to shake. The mine was caving in! Several boulders fell and separated Goddarov from the others. A few moments later, his scream echoed through the thick rock. 

By this time, more invaders had blocked the tunnel entrance again. Another cluster of boulders fell behind the remaining Gatekeepers as Kyle took a mirror out of his pocket, tossed it up into the air, and cried, "Reflector Shot!" as he threw an orb of light at the mirror. The mirror absorbed the ball of energy as it fell to the ground. An array of piercing beams of white light abruptly shot out of the mirror, decimated the wall of invaders, and reduced them to a bunch of green crystals.

Kyle and Jason made it to the exit, but Cartegie was nowhere in sight. They turned around to find him crushed under the mass of boulders that fell just a moment after the two had gotten out of the mineshaft. "I guess he was too slow," Jason commented. 

"God, protect their souls as they make their way to their final destination." Kyle said as he did the sign of the cross.

"I didn't know you were a Roman Catholic, mate." Jason said in his Australian accent as he rested his left hand on Kyle's shoulder comfortingly, "Don't worry, mate. I'm sure they'll find solace where they're going." He assured.

"I guess so." Kyle said, still a little poignant from the incident, "Let's go back to the US."

"Can't we at least finish our tour?" Jason asked tauntingly.

"No. We have to report this to the Commander." Kyle turned to face the east. The sun was rising. He always thought of the sunrise as hope. As long as another day comes, you can always retreat to plan the next move.

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AN: Hope you like it! It's my first GK fic in ages! Just review, okay? Flames gladly accepted


	2. Choosing Companions

Disclaimer: I don't own GK, blah, blah, blah. All I own are my original characters and this damn computer.

AN: For Hans Cartegie's German accent, I changed all Ws to Vs, Ss & Fs to Zs, SHs to ZHs, Ands to Unds, and Ths to Ss and Zs, except for some words that just won't do to make him sound more accented. As for Goddarov's Russian accent, I changed all his Ths to Ds. Also, the 'Ruriko gets raped' concept was inspired by a couple of fanfics concerning just that: the 'Ruriko gets raped' concept. One concept from the action/adventure: Time Trax, and the other from a Lemon: The Untold Story. One last thing: Just because there's a scene where Bates gives a hint that he doesn't like the way Jim, Jun, and Misao work, doesn't mean that I don't like the three. In fact, I'm one of their biggest fans! Anyway, on with the story!

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CHAPTER 2: CHOOSING COMPANIONS  


TOKYO TOWER, TOKYO CITY, JAPAN, January 10, 1971…

The winds of the chilly January 10 winter, several stories up in the tall structure played with Hans Cartegie's dark brown trench coat and his short, graying hair. He was at least 57, but still in incredible shape. He just stood there, waiting for someone. _Vhat's taking Alexei zo long!?_ He thought, _He zhould've been here zix minutez ago…_ His plane of thinking was interrupted when a black Gate appeared beside him and a Russian hunting cap slowly began to rise out until the entire man was visible.

"You are late, Alexei," Cartegie said blankly, "Vhat took you zo long?"

Alexei Goddarov could only fidget with his gloved fingers as he thought of the perfect alibi, "I was delayed."

"Vhy vere you delayed?" Cartegie asked, his German accent was now audible, but hard to understand, even though Goddarov had spent the last ten years running around the world with him.

"I got into a fight wid an old friend." Goddarov replied nervously.

"Und who might zis old 'friend' be?" Cartegie inquired even deeper.

"Kyle Donnehue."

"Kyle, eh? How vas he?"

"He was stronger den when we last saw him. Frighteningly much stronger."

"I zee." Cartegie shoved his hands into his coat's side pockets, "Vell, it doezn't matter. Vee have zee upper hand. Negotiations vith Kageyama are complete, und vee have agreed on an alliance."

"What!?" Goddarov was shocked as well as angry. He didn't like the idea of forming an alliance with that punk, "Why did you agree on his terms!? We don't need to work wid dat juvenile delinquent! We are far more powerful den him!"

"Can't you see zee point!?" Cartegie was on the verge of exploding, "Who do you zink iz in control of mozt of zee invaderz in zis locality? Him or us!?"

"Den my answer would be him of course." Goddarov answered ruefully, knowing he had been defeated once again by his by far much wiser comrade.

"Zee plan has been finalized," Cartegie started, "Vee begin Vorld domination from zis area. Ztarting vith zee fall of AEGIS Far Eazt Divizion."

"And how do you plan to do dat?" Goddarov asked.

"Zee zpy is vithin zeir ranks at zis very moment, picking out zee veaknesses of zeir Gatekeepers, und giving zee feedback to me."

"What is da use of finding deir weaknesses out?"

"Zimple, Alexei. Vonce vee know of zeir emozional veaknesses, Akuma vill do hiz end of zee bargain und turn zee most potenzial veakling againzt all zee ozer Gatekeepers…" he thought for a moment, "Ekzept for Ruriko Ikuzava."

"Why not her?"

"Becauze zey have tried zat on her vonce, und zey failed." Cartegie stated, reminding Goddarov of the battle where Kageyama lost just because some big dark door opened and swallowed him up. Of course, he also knew that that portal was of Cartegie's doing in order to save Reiji from certain death at the hands of Shun Ukiya. It was done because he wanted to preserve Shadow for latter usage.

"He told me of vhat he did in order to achieve zee correct amount of hatred. I don't vant to tell you vhat he did or how he did it." Cartegie mentioned, "Oopz, my mouth must've zlipped. Forget I mentioned zat to you, Alexei."

"You don't have to tell me what he did, Hans."

"Vhat do you mean?"

"I've seen many movies where people are brainwashed by sticking a patetic suggestion into deir heads using televisions dat affect da entire visual plane."

"Zat's not vhat I meant."

"Den what do you mean by dat?" Goddarov's brow furrowed as he asked a question whose answer would make his stomach churn in disgust (I don't have to tell you what I mean) when it was given out to him.

"You really vant to know zat badly?" Cartegie asked invitingly, obviously piquing Goddarov's interest.

"Yes." The Negative Russian Gatekeeper replied expectantly.

"All right, you azked for it." Cartegie said before he began to explain in every explicit detail on how Kageyama had defiled Ruriko, repeating everything that the man calling himself Shadow had told him word for word (I'm sheeewwwww evil!) slightly causing Goddarov to weaken as though he was ready to empty his stomach's contents of biscuit through the mouth. Furthermore, he totally keeled over, letting go of his partaken biscuits at the edge of the tower's platform as Cartegie mentioned something about 'zhooting zee hell out of her' or something like that.

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"Zer. I told you everyzing I know about vhat he did. Are you zatizvied?" Cartegie said as he finished.

"Of course." Goddarov replied to the man in a trench coat, still slightly green. He hated stories concerning copulation, human, and animal alike, and he did not intend to start liking it. He was a 49-year-old virgin, and detested the need for sexual intercourse, freestyle or otherwise. His Babushka (meaning grandmother in Russian) always told him when he was a little boy, that his virginity was his soul, his essence, and his very life force. He did not like the idea of two souls 'melding' into one.

"Now all vee have to do is vait. Vonce zee zpy contactz me und tellz me everyzing, vee zhould notivy Akuma." He let out a sinister chuckle as Goddarov stepped up beside him to witness the dark clouds coming their way over the horizon.

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AEGIS FE HQ, UNDER TATEGAMI HIGH SCHOOL…

Supreme Commander Steven Bates was on the main view screen, talking to Shirei about a possible invader threat heading towards them from overseas. Bates was of course, referring to the mysterious blade swinging invader that penetrated AEGIS US's heart of defense just about an hour ago. However, Bates kept the secret that the invader was also a former member of the Templar Gatekeeper force from Shirei, namely one Alexei Goddarov. "Know this, Commander," Bates presaged, as the Universal Translator translated everything he said into Japanese, "This Negative Gatekeeper is powerful. Our agents had a hard time dealing with him." Bates gave Shirei that stern look of concern he always let out during dire situations. This was one of them.

"I'll remember that," Shirei replied, "Anything else?"

"We've found several messages from the intruder's beeper, discerning the presence of a spy probably planted in your organization." Bates followed up blankly.

"What!?" Shirei exclaimed, flattening his open palms on the Commander's desk, "How could that be?"

"I don't know. All I do know is that he or she plans to destroy your branch from the inside to the out." He stiffened, "We'll keep you posted on any updates with the situation. That will be all." The talk over, the transmission ended, leaving a three-dimensional map of Japan, and Shirei to think over what he was going to do.

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AEGIS US HQ, UNDER THE UN BUILDING…

Bates swirled around to face Kyle after his talk with Shirei ended.

"Do I have a go?" Kyle asked.

"It's confirmed. You have a go for the operation." Bates replied judiciously, "Select two Templar to accompany you on your mission. Your top priority is to keep the FE branch from knowing you're there."

"And that meaning?"

"Once you are on site, we will commence total radio silence until your mission is accomplished."

"Hey, no problem! How many missions have we gone on with total radio silence? A lot of them!" Kyle responded confidently, "And we didn't even call you once!"

"Also, keep the use of Gate Powers to a minimum." Bates added, giving a stern look that could send chills down even Kyle's spine.

"WHAT!?" Kyle was flabbergasted, "Then how in the hell could you expect us to survive out there!?"

"I said keep Gate Powers to a minimum," Bates accentuated, "Not refrain from using them. Use them only, and I repeat, ONLY when necessary."

"Okay."

"It's good that you understand everything I say. You are like a son to me Kyle, and I don't want you to run around, wreaking havoc with your apocalyptic Gate Powers. Now go!" Bates commanded, thrusting his index finger at the door.

"Affirmative, AEGIS!" Kyle saluted as he proceeded to the profile archives in search of the right two companions.

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AEGIS US PROFILE ARCHIVES, UNDER THE UN BUILDING…

Kyle searched the Templar Gatekeeper profiles for suitable companions. There, he came across two familiar files, containing two familiar profiles. The first was Goddarov, Alexei Nolovitch—Gender: Male, Age: 38, Height 6ft.5, Eye Color: Black, Hair Color: Brown, Nationality: Russian, Date of Birth: August 16, 1922, Gate Power: Shields and Protection—Profile last updated: May 3, 1960, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Deceased. Kyle reminded himself that Goddarov was still alive. 

He opened the second file, Cartegie, Hans Schneider—Gender: Male, Age: 46, Height 6ft. 1, Eye Color: Blue, Hair Color: Gray, Nationality: German, Date of Birth: November 12, 1914, Gate Power: Purity and Healing—Profile last updated: May 3, 1960, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Deceased. He closed the file, his chest bearing a thousand-pound weight. He could never forget seeing Cartegie's lifeless legs sticking out from under the huge collection of boulders that fell on top of him just a second before he could get out of the mine. 

He tried another file. It was the new girl, McCarxander, Eve Jansen—Gender: Female, Age: 13, Height 5ft 3, Eye Color: Blue, Hair Color: Blonde, Nationality: British, Date of Birth, June 8, 1957, Gate Power: Minds—Profile last updated: August 27, 1970, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive. Kyle was curious of what the Gate of Minds could do, very curious. He had never seen her in action before, mainly because of two things: A: She was new, and B: Whenever she was sent on a mission, she had never gone with him yet. This was Kyle's chance to see her fighting style, her Gate ability, and most importantly, her face. _Looks like I found teammate number one,_ he thought.

The person in the next file he knew very well. It was his best friend, Tripley, Jason Vincent—Gender: Male, Age: 27, Height: 6ft. 1, Eye Color: Purple, Hair Color: Light Brown, Nationality: Australian, Date of Birth April 6, 1943, Gate Power: Burning Earth—Profile last updated: September 29, 1970, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive. Jason was the irresponsible, cocky, and impulsive type. Always rushing into fights, Gate Unlocked, ready to melt invaders into a pile of green sludge with his Mantle-based powers. _He won't do for this mission,_ he thought, _I need someone responsible and obedient. Sorry, Jason. Not this time._ He closed the file and picked up the next.

Avaltero, Mica Cruz—Gender: Female, Age: 23, Height: 6ft, Eye Color: Green, Hair Color: Brown, Nationality: Argentinean, Date of Birth: June 4, 1947, Gate Power: Sky—Profile last updated: September 11, 1970, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive. _Maybe,_ he pondered, _I'll have to check out the others first. _He opened the last non-restricted file.

Yuki, Maya Kiyosaki—Gender: Female, Age: 10, Height: 4ft 8, Eye Color: Red, Hair Color: Pink, Nationality: Japanese, Date of Birth: October 21, 1960, Gate Power: Fundamental Elements—Profile last updated: October 23, 1970, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive. _She's too young and still has to hone her skills. We'll see, anyway._ His eyes fell upon the last file under the Classification: Templar Gatekeeper. He decided to check it out anyway.

"Damn!" He cursed mildly as he read the two words written in bold red: Access Denied, on the monitor. It changed, Please Enter AEGIS US ID Code…

AEGIS62874TGK001, Kyle typed.

Searching ID Records…

ID Code Found, the monitor read, Showing Kyle's profile. Donnehue, Kyle Bradford—Gender: Male, Age: 29, Height: 6ft 2, Eye Color: Brown, Hair Color: Brown, Nationality: American, Date of Birth, December 7, 1941, AEGIS Position: Templar Gatekeeper Unit Captain, Gate Power: Light—Profile last updated: January 3, 1971, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive. Access Granted.

Kyle blew a sigh of relief, "For a moment, there, I thought they weren't gonna let me in!" Kyle quickly opened the file.

???, Darla ???, Kyle was surprised that they only knew her first name. Even her background was shady and hardly understandable. Gender: Female, Age: 8, Height: 4ft 7, Eye Color: Azure, Hair Color: Purple, Nationality: ???, Date of Birth: MM, DD, 1962, Gate Power: Adaptation—Profile last updated: January 1, 1970, Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Confidential. Kyle closed the file. "I don't think I'd like to go with somebody I don't know. Let's see what Maya can do." He called Bates, "I've made my choice."

"Good," Bates replied, "Bring them here ASAP."

"Right."

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AEGIS US COMMAND ROOM, UNDER THE UN BUILDING…

Kyle, accompanied by two shorter and younger women, walked up to Bates' desk, Bates' back facing them as to the fact that he was facing the main monitor. "We're here, sir."

Bates was startled by the Templar's sudden statement, which was displayed by the sudden jerking of his chair before he swiveled around until his gaze met Kyle's. He looked over to the two girls behind Kyle and said, "So, you've chosen the younger ones, eh?"

"Yes sir," Kyle replied, "I looked up their techniques and found out that they are useful for a lot of things." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Alright then," Bates acknowledged, "You may commence the operation anytime." He gave Kyle that stern look of seriousness, "But note that once you are on site, you have exactly 120 hours to complete your objective."

"Oh great." Kyle answered sarcastically, "Five days. We've got lots of time!"

"Consider yourself fortunate, Kyle." Bates warned, "Skylark, Thunders, and Sakimori don't even get as much as half the time

I'm giving you." he paused, "Namely because they tend to do things hastily, running around in their Gate Robots, bashing invaders, completing their objectives without thoroughly scanning the details." He picked up his cup and sipped some coffee; "A method I don't exactly vie for is what they've been doing 'in the name of humanity' for the past five years." He motioned towards the corridor leading to the launch bay. "Go now. There's a chopper waiting for you. I've already told the pilot what to do."

"Got it, AEGIS!" The three Templar Gatekeepers saluted as they departed for the hangar, carrying their luggage and some expensive military equipment with them. 

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AEGIS US HANGAR 1, UNDER THE UN BUILDING…

"Sorry, sir." The pilot spoke, "Looks like there's some trouble with the landing gear—" 

"What in the hell do ya mean by 'trouble with the landing gear'!?" Kyle retorted. He didn't wait for 38 minutes just to be told that the Nighthawk Transport Chopper's Landing Gear had a problem. "How long will it take you to fix it?"

"That depends—" again, the pilot was interrupted by a steaming Kyle Donnehue who had just lifted him by the collar.

"Depends on what!?" Kyle was ready to burst.

"Put him down Kyle!" Eve beamed, her British accent taking on an angry state, making her sound somewhat haughty. But no matter how much she tried, she never seemed to get his attention. 

Maya could only watch the scene as Kyle drew the poor pilot closer to him with clenched teeth. 

Just then, an excellent idea popped into Eve's head. _Why don't I use my Gate for this problem?_ She thought to herself as she slowly removed the red gem from her Gate Seal ring and whispered, "Unlock the Gate," Her pupils then dilated, and a pair of royal blue Gates began to swirl within them, intensifying their sapphire-like luster. (She already has Blue eyes, why give her a blue Gate you ask? I don't know!)

"Mind Talk," She said, extending her palm towards Kyle who was just about to beat the crap out of the pilot who at this time had probably already pissed in his pants.

Just as Kyle was about to knock a good one into the pilot's face, all went black, and the pilot disappeared. All he could see besides the eternal gap was he himself. _Stop it, Kyle_. A young feminine voice told him. It had a British accent, and it sounded familiar.

_Who are you?_ Kyle answered.

_You don't recognize my voice?_ The voice asked, playfully as it giggled.

_I know I've heard you somewhere before, but I don't remember._

I'll give you a hint, the voice replied mischievously, _I'm thirteen years old, am 5ft 3, have blond hair—_

It was cut off when Kyle suddenly boomed, _Aha! I now I remember! You're Eve!_ He paused for a moment, _But how did you get into my head?_

Silly! Eve's voice taunted, _It's my Gate Power! The Gate of Minds, remember?_

_Now how could I have forgotten that? _Kyle asked himself, _So why jump into my head just before I could show that fat ass pilot who's boss?_

Simple, the child like voice continued, _the very reason I jumped into your thoughts is to stop you from 'showing that fat ass pilot who's boss'._

Am I that impulsive?

Yes.

Aaagh! Look, Kyle said, _I'm sorry about almost beating the crap out of that pilot. I promise I won't kill him._ He paused for a moment, _Just let me outta this trance!_

As you wish--Eve was cut off when a third entity joined the conversation. The voice was even younger than that of Eve's; and sounded much more innocent at that.

_Um, excuse me, Donnehue-san._ She said, _But I think I know a faster and far more convenient way to get to Japan without having to cause that nice pilot any trouble._

Okay, Kyle answered, _But eh…who are you?_

The voice didn't answer. Kyle then saw a small girl with ruby eyes and pink hair, appear before him wearing a purple raincoat. "It's me," she said, "Yuki Maya."

_Hey Eve, _Kyle spoke slyly, _How come you can't do that?_ He pointed at Maya who was by now sitting on the 'ground', playing with jacks.

_That's because she owns the Gate of Fundamental Elements! What do you think!?_

Oh! Kyle exclaimed, _So Maya, _he said, getting her attention, _What exactly is this other way?_

She looked up at him with her own large, innocent, fiery orbs and said, "Using my Gate."

_You've gotta be kidding me!_ Kyle retorted, _Only experienced people could spare enough energy to use for the Gate Transit Action! And even they can only transport themselves via GTA!_ The Gate Transit Action as the name states, was the fastest way of travel for high-level Gatekeepers. Using the powers of their own Gates to pierce the delicate fabric of time and space, it takes them to their destination almost instantly; the long part caused by the slow process of the Gatekeeper entering and exiting the Gate Transit Tear.

Kyle suddenly snapped back into reality. He was still holding the pilot by the collar. The only difference was that there were faint traces of wet on the crotch part of the pilot's uniform. (I don't have to tell you what that stuff is, do I?) He immediately put the frightened man down, "How long did I black out?" Kyle asked him.

"J…j…j…just t…t…ten s…s…seconds ag…g…go. Why?"

"Never mind," Kyle cooled down, "Here, go get yourself a break." He handed the man a 5. The pilot gladly accepted, and made a run for the nearest exit. He turned back to face Maya, "So how exactly does your Gate work?"

"Let me explain that to you." Eve cut in, "Maya's Gate, the Gate of Fundamental Elements takes control of the three Fundamental Elements that comprise our universe."

"Und vhat might zose elemunts be, Profezzor McCarxander?" Kyle asked in an Albert Einstein Accent.

"Stop teasing me!" She hollered, starting to sound like Elizabeth Hurley throwing a temper tantrum, "Those elements are of course, Time, Space, and Matter. Now from what I have heard, she has developed a unique method for teleportation, using her space element. She calls it the Space Shift," She smiled at the little girl, "Isn't that right, Maya?"

The young Gatekeeper could only stare back, as if trying to read the older girl's mind, when finally, she gave her answer, "Yes, Miss McCarxander."

"Oh, quit flattering me!" She shoed the thought, "Just Eve is fine." Kyle let out a childish giggle, "In any case, that was for personal transportation. When it comes to mass-transport, however…" She paused, "She has developed a way to transport deadweight objects as well."

"Really…so what's that technique called?" Kyle asked, by now his interest was very piqued.

"It's called the Shift Gateway. A larger version of the Gate Transit Tear… a much larger version."

"So it's just like a Gate Transit Tear only bigger? That won't work! The Gate Transit Tear only responds to the Owner's Gate Frequency!" Kyle commented.

"You didn't let me finish!" She shouted again, annoyed, "It doesn't use a Gate Frequency, and thus, anyone and anything can go in without any Warp Resistance!"

"You mean they won't slow down? Then how do they go in any way?"

"They go through it just like a door, or fall through it just like a hole. It depends on the altitude of the location compared to this place."

"Uhuh. Not like a regular GTT I see." Kyle looked at the little girl who by now was wearing a yellow sweater and had somehow gotten rid of the jacks and had replaced them with stuffed animals, "How in the hell did she do that!?"

Eve once again explained, "That is a mystery that has two explanations: Either A: She used her Time and Matter powers in this order: She froze time and created a stuffed toy and new clothes while it was frozen, and reanimated it. Or B: Using her Time and Space powers, she froze time, teleported into her room to get the toys, changed her clothes and came back here to reanimate time."

"She's one mysterious little girl." Kyle thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, she reminds me of another mysterious little Japanese girl I encountered before." He scratched his head, "I think her name was Yukio or something like that."

"You mean Yukino? Yukino Houju!?" Eve snapped.

"Yeah! She's the one! Do you know her?"

"Of course I know her! She's the mysterious High-level Gatekeeper who helped out the Far East Branch during the Political Invasion Campaign!" The Political Invasion Campaign was the label given to Kageyama's attempt to take over Japan.

"Really?" Kyle asked, somewhat exited, "Ah who cares?" he shrugged off the feeling, "I can't wait any longer! Let's go!"

"In any case," Eve concluded, "We can easily go there anytime." She looked at Maya, "Maya, If you please, open the Shift Gateway so we can get to Japan now." 

As if the little girl understood, she stood up, removed the gem from her Gate Seal, extended her open hand to an empty space in the hangar, and shouted at a surprisingly loud volume, "UNLOCK THE GATE!" Almost immediately, her red eyes had glass-transparent rings swirling within them, as a set of silver rings with a diameter large enough to fit a helicopter through appeared in the once empty space, emitting a strong wind like that of a black hole. "Please…go…through…now…" she struggled to say as though short of breath, "Can't…keep…it…open…much…longer…" she took a choked deep breath as the two other Templar jumped in and landed on top of a rather large mall in Tokyo. Sweating as though she had been running for miles, she then clenched her teeth as though resisting agonizing torture as she herself jumped into the Shift Gateway and landed, gasping for breath, on top of Kyle just as the massive portal disappeared.

Eve wiped the sweat off of Maya with a handkerchief as Kyle stood up and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, synchronize your watch timers to 120 hours." He fixed his own watch, "Let the countdown… begin."

=========

AN: Hope you liked this chapter! It took me three days to write it! Please review!


	3. Italy: Victories and Losses

            Disclaimer: Same stuff. Don't own GK. Never did, never will. It all belongs to GONZO. To them be the glory. All I own are my original characters and this damn computer. I also own Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation as a fictional location. If it happens to be the name of any such organization or anything related to it, it is just pure coincidence.

            AN: This is kinda stupid, the idea popped into my head a few days ago. Excuse my side comments I just can't help it! Also, this is just a one shot and was only meant for the benefit of placing circumstances in the major parts of the story.  Also, Mica Avaltero is by far the most pitiful OC (Original Character) in my story.

Chapter 3: Italy: Victories and Losses 

            AEGIS Mediterranean HQ, Rome Italy, Jan. 10, 1971…

            The Commander of AEGIS Mediterranean (Whatever the hell his name is, coz I don't give a damn) gawked shocked and wide-eyed at the monitor. The whole map of Italy mainland was a blinding red. _Just like Nippon_, he thought as he activated the intercom. "Miss De Gasperi? Are you still there?"

            "Yes, sir." Replied a female voice.

"Listen, we have lost contact with AEGIS United and I don't think that reinforcements will be sent to us."

"I understand."

"We've also lost all signals with the Gatekeeper from abroad, Agent Avaltero." His voice was grave, just right for this situation. Silence was all that answered him, "Agent De Gasperi? Come in!" Still nothing, "Dammit!"

            Finally, with a slight flicker of the sound of static and gunfire erupting in the background, she was able to regain contact, though it was barely audible, "In…ders …ave …br…ched our a…ea! C…n't …old …em off …uch l…ger!" The last thing he heard was a loud, ear-piercing scream before the line returned to disturbing, spine-chilling serenity.

            He eased back into his chair, knowing that his time had come. He had served many years as a loyal soldier in the army, calmly moved up in the ranks until finally, he reached the position of Commander. He fought the Nazis with every single bit of courage he had left. Surviving the Second World War, he was very grateful and was by that time truly convinced that there was a God. That was when AEGIS United discovered his leadership potential and recruited him to be the Commander of AEGIS Mediterranean. However, all those years of hard work assigning people to do their jobs right was put to waste at last. It was over, for him and all of the other protectors of their jurisdiction, and the Home of the Pope. All was going to end; it was just a matter of how and when.

==========

The Coliseum, Rome…

            Mica Avaltero, the Gatekeeper of the Sky, slowly walked around the audience booth (whatever you call it. You know! The place where the audience sits) and surveyed what was in the center ring, her long brown hair swaying behind her. A tall, black machine stood there, faintly resembling a Gate Robot, although it was crafted to look more devilish than appealing. A high-pitched sound was flowing out of the damned thing, probably signaling invaders to do its owner's bidding.

"Just like Japan," she mumbled as she stepped into the arena area to get a closer look at the dark figure. It certainly looked like Shadow's Gate Robot, except the fact that there was no pair of invader brass trapped inside. She was taking time. An element that this country did not have much of left save she did something.

She approached the mechanical beast and removing the gem from her Seal Ring, cried out, "Gate! Open!" She was desperate, desperate to the point of opening her Gate and unleashing the massive destructive forces of weather upon this insignificant little pebble. Although she was a Templar Gatekeeper and did not have any permission to open the Gate, she knew she had to. _Drastic times call for drastic measures,_ she thought, _this is one of them._ Her eyes were illuminated by the presence of a trio of grayish, purple rings cueing her to shout, "Weather Titan! Blizzard Dragon!" 

The Weather Titans were mystical beasts that represented different forces of the weather. Because of their Sky bound powers, they were considered closer to being gods than any other magic creatures. (Even if you count in the four gods. Why? It's because the sacred beasts only represented the four gods. Just some trivia!) Unfortunately, they dwelled within another dimension. The only way they were to enter this universe was to choose a human as a medium; a bridge to a gap if you prefer. Because they were extremely grateful creatures, the lucky person they chose to be medium got even luckier, because of the fact that he or she would become their master as long as he or she lived.

The skies darkened, and above the clouds, an ominous snake-like figure swam in a wave-like motion, emitting loud and disturbing shrieks as it plunged downward and began to spiral. It appeared in the air just above the coliseum, it being long enough to span a sizeable fraction of the city and its body's width several meters thick. Finally, its features were completely revealed. It had a glass-transparent body resembling that of a serpent, a head of a dragon, of course, minus the whiskers. Its eyes were a brilliant pale blue, and had an icy and chilling aura to it. This was one of Mica's Weather Titans, the Blizzard Dragon. "I doth be at your service, me lady," it spoke in a low tone that resembled rumbling earth.

Mica knew her pets far too well to make use of weak attacks, "Create a Blizzard unlike any you've made before! Halt or at least slow down the enemy's movement. I need more time to destroy this abomination."

"How large dost thou wanteth this Snowstorm to be?"

"Big enough to cover the entire country."

"As thou wouldst will, me lady." It replied as it floated away. Moments later, snow began to fall, strong and hard, signaling Mica that her Dragon was doing its job.

"I hope this (the Blizzard) will help those Italian people," she focused her attention once more upon the Black Gate Robot. "Weather Titan! Rainstorm Tiger!" in the distance, a loud growl could be heard. Soon, a pair of intensely focused green eyes was spotted in the darkness of the tunnel across Mica's current position. Slowly, the two emerald orbs approached the grinning lass until their owner's features came into view. It was at least five times the size of a normal tiger, and had a hazy-gray pelt color instead of orange with pale silver stripes that contrasted its hide perfectly. Its tail was swaying lazily behind it. 

A few feet from her, it stopped and sat down, like an expectant puppy, its tail still swinging. "And whatest thou wanteth this humble servant to do for ye, me lady?" 

"Go forth and impede the invaders' advancement towards AEGIS Mediterranean's base! It is located beneath the Bertolucci Health Foods Corp.'s Headquarters." She commanded. Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation was one of the most highly favored of its kind by the public. Founded in 1853, no other company has surpassed its quality in making health foods. Why AEGIS Mediterranean was built under a Food Factory? It was to keep suspicions to a minimum. 

"Thy will be done, me lady." It continued in the direction it was going, passing Mica, disappearing as mysteriously as it came. She was trying to buy time for AEGIS Mediterranean and the entire country; perhaps they could tear down several miles worth of frozen invaders to clear the way for evacuation? Not in this weather though.

"Weather Titan! Hurricane Wolf!" A long and ominous howl responded to her call, and in the midst of the darkness, rain, and snow, soft and stealthy footsteps echoed in the silent and eerie distance. A few moments later, a chilling breeze hit Mica from the left, accompanied by the sound of thump, thump, thump. It was then, that she turned to the direction of the quiet noise, and found a great white wolf, its brown eyes reflecting the faint light.

"Whatest may I do in favor of me lady?"

"I do humbly request, my dear friend, that you lend me your powers once more." Hurricane Wolf was the first Weather Titan Mica was able to summon, and they have been close friends since the day they first met. Being inexperienced with controlling the Weather Titans during that time, she thought that she needed to borrow their powers in order to utilize them. It was later, when she had first summoned Blizzard Dragon, that she was told by the clear serpent-like beast that she did not have to borrow their strengths, just to command them to do her bidding instead. She learned after the latter incident however, that when she used their powers, it magnified to a much greater level of destructive power. On the negative side, however, the respective Weather Titan who lent her its powers would lose them for the duration of her possession of the said abilities. Furthermore, after returning the mighty energies to their owners, she herself would be drained of strength and drop unconscious. She has developed a countermeasure for this, though, by training on how to master the flow of power. The reason to all this weakness and loss, she believed, was that the power was returned to the creature so rapidly that in its wake, grasped a hold of and towed away most of Mica's original energies. By training hard and meditating day and night, she successfully was able to slow down the process when using their powers, thus preventing the fledging energy to drain her own.

"As thou wouldst wish." Its eyes widened just before greenish light shot out of them, entering Mica's own orbs, thus granting her the power of the mighty hurricane. She opened her arms in a hugging manner as powerful currents of air lifted her. She slowly floated downward, a pale green aura surrounding her.

"Many thanks once more, my friend," she raised her palm at the Mechanical menace and shouted, "Elder Hurricane!" a vortex could be seen materializing in the air just above the Coliseum, and growing! The by this time large thick funnel began to descend until the Dark Gate Robot was consumed, and hurled up several meters upward. She maneuvered her hand as though conducting orchestra, gracefully, yet forcefully, and the hurricane followed suit, moving the part of its mass (can I call it mass?) that encaged the steel phantom harshly in the direction of her hand's movement, throwing the robot at various parts of the coliseum with incredible force, thus causing great damage to it. This continued for a few minutes, until she decided finally, _I've had enough playtime, the invaders have probably defrosted by now, so I'd better end this quick_.

She allowed the hurricane to continue thrashing about, the black entity in its tow, while she called yet another of her mystical beasts, "Weather Titan! Hail Scorpion!" No fancy entrances this time, a large five-foot scorpion slowly unburied its way out of the ground, and stood there, watching the girl, with the powerful gust whipping the mech around like a rag doll, until it broke the silence.

"Me lady, I doth be prepared to serve thee."

"Very well, Scorpion," she paused, "I need to borrow you power."

"Me strength be at your command." It replied, its large beady eyes emitting twin rays of blue energy that she absorbed. Her eyes glowed blue as she silently thanked the creature in a slight whisper.

"And now for my grand finale! Climax Hailstorm!" A single drop of condensed water vapor fell from the sky until it stopped a few inches from her open palm. It began to attract more condensed droplets and began to grow to that point that it was the size of her fist. That was when it slowly froze into a snowball. It continued to attract more water, in the form of snowflakes until it grew to the size of a computer monitor, at which point it hardened into a hailstone. She slightly lifted her palm and the ball rose up to the point that it was at the same altitude as Mica's 'rag doll' being tossed around by the mighty twister. There, it continued to grow until it was the size of your average ten-wheel truck. It then broke into two, and separated as if it had a mind of its own. The two pieces grew as well, until they were the same size of their predecessor. They split up too, making four. They grew. The process continued until there were at least two dozen floating hailstones the size of ten-wheelers. She conjured a shy grin as she said, "Now for the fun part." The twister tossed the robot up in one final effort and abruptly vanished. As it began to drop, Mica's eyes widened as she shouted, "End Compactor!" The hailstones simultaneously hurled themselves at the falling entity, crushing it in several megatons' worth of pressure. They burst and dissipated no more than a second later, leaving a heap of twisted scrap metal to hit the earth.

She kicked it, just to make sure it was broken, and looked back at her companions. "Thank you—" she was cut off as her eyes widened in disbelief at what she saw. Her two friends, their bodies sprawled on the ground, lifeless; not bleeding, though. The bastard who did this probably knew of this weakness and executed the two while she was making use of their abilities. The scum. The sound of halfhearted clapping from her right interrupted her plain of thought. She glared at the direction of its source to find everybody's favorite Reiji Kageyama posed casually, still clapping.

He finished his annoying charade and said, "Bravo! Bravo! That was an excellent display of power, my friend. You have great potential!"

"What in the hell are you doing here, Shadow!?" she retorted.

"Isn't it obvious? I came to collect my robot. When I got here however, I found you flinging it around with such power. I realized at that point that you were one of those Templar Gatekeepers that Hans has been warning me about. It turns out that you weren't as powerful as I expected you to be." He let out an arrogant "humph." 

She snarled at him enraged, obviously insulted at his remark, "You'll pay for this, Shadow!"

"Pay for what? Mocking you? Or for killing these – pets of yours? It's not like I care about animals. They're a much lower class of insect than specks of bugs such as you." He took a piece of leftover Tobleron chocolate treats from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth, savoring the rich goodness that only milk chocolate could offer.

"They were more than pets, you bastard!" tears began to well up in her eyes, "They were my friends!"

"Friends? Ha!" he scoffed, "How could a human talk to mindless animals? Are you a retard or something?" He let out a sinister chuckle that evolved into an insane demonic laugh.

"That shows how little you know about us." Mica regained her composure (at least some of it, anyway).

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Let me show you," Kageyama jumped backwards, expecting Mica to attack as she extended her right arm at the sky, calling out the fifth Weather Titan she had at her disposal, "Lightning Hawk!" A bright spark of lightning illuminated that blackened sky, followed by an eardrum-breaking crack of thunder; a second later, what could be described as the cry of a mighty bird of prey was heard as a huge winged entity flew downward until it perched itself on the far side of the top of the coliseum. It was as large as a small building, with golden feathers mixed with silver ones, its eye sockets containing piercing red orbs that focused their attention on an already smiling Mica Avaltero.

"Thou dost call upon my power, my lady?" It inquired of its master.

"It spoke!" Kageyama could not believe his eyes, or his ears for that matter, "How did it do that!?"

Mica ignored the amazed enemy and told it, "Show this simpleton the power you hold!" she had grown a smirk at Kageyama's reaction to the Juggernaut's actions.

"As thou wouldst wish." Its eyes changed from red to a blinding royal blue as it answered its mistress, and began to flap its large wings. Surprisingly, after a few powerful gusts, the wind stopped. The bird had stopped flapping; it was looking Reiji straight in the eye. Its peepers widened and powerful strokes of lightning began dropping from the sky, scorching the earth surrounding it. The holocaust continued for a couple of minutes, and Kageyama's sight was glued to the scene. The great jolts finally subsided and the Hawk's eyes returned to normal. "I have done as thou hast commanded."

"Very good, Hawk. Now destroy the adversary!" She pointed at Kageyama.

"By thy will, me lady." The same ritual began again and this time, a destructive bolt of lightning struck the dumbstruck Shadow, really giving him the shocks.

"So, you think that your little pets can kill me, eh? Ha!" Reiji swiped his right arm and regained his cool, "I'll be seeing you later, Templar!" His Gate opened beneath him and he slowly sank into the dark rings until he completely vanished, the Gate closing.

Mica took one final glimpses at her befallen friends, "You'll pay for this Shadow, I swear it!" She muttered under her breath, "Return to your land, Lightning Hawk."

"So be it, me lady." The huge bird darted upward and vanished.

Mica then realized that a huge black tear in the time-space continuum had generated in the sky, pulling what appeared to be large chunks of fleas frozen in blocks of ice into itself. "This Robot is really trashed," she kicked the black shrapnel once more, "Blizzard Dragon and Rainstorm Tiger! I summon you!"

The two beasts appeared once more, "What is thy bidding me lady," they stated simultaneously.

"You have done your jobs well. Return to your land and celebrate for jobs well done, and grieve; for Hurricane Wolf and Hail Scorpion have fallen."

"Alas me lady, we cannot accomplish thy latter commands, for all our fallen associates require to live once more is for thou to return thy borrowed strength to them." Blizzard Dragon replied.

"Now?"

"Thou hast to wait several days for their wounds to heal completely. During that period, their power doth be at thy disposal." Rainstorm Tiger answered.

"We shalt be watching thee from our home." They continued as they vanished as suddenly as they appeared.

            "Good." She used her wind power to lift the two bodies as she slowly walked outward, the couple in tow. Her communicator bleeped. "Yes?"

            "Agent Avaltero, what's your status?" It was Bates.

            "Mission accomplished, Commander. Shadow was behind it all."

            "Good. I need you back here ASAP."

            "Why?"

            "Agent Donnehue and the others are having serious problems in Japan. They need your help."

            "Roger that, AEGIS!" She saluted.

==========

AEGIS Mediterranean, Rome Italy, Under the Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation…

            The commander could not believe what he saw; the red began to rapidly recede until not a trace was left. "A miracle!" he did the sign of the cross and thanked God that they made it… most of them actually; he had work to do. Besides repairing the penetrated areas of the base, he had to find out if Agent De Gasperi was still alive. 

Suddenly and surprisingly, the door burst open, with De Gasperi trying to balance herself on the entrance input device, her clothes somewhat torn, "We made it, sir!" she shouted. The commander greatly brightened at this second miracle. There was no doubt about it now; there **is **a God. 

Hope you liked that! Just put that last scene there to show the results of Blizzard's and Rainstorm's efforts. Don't worry! I changed my mind, I'll include Mica in some other parts of the story. Well, gotta go! I'm Working on a Vandread AU, then I got my assignments to do. Chow!


	4. Unnatural Selection

AN: Standard disclaimers apply. This one is kinda long, and this is where the Gate Measurement system I developed will begin to be put to use. Hope you get to figure it out while reading. Just a few hints: There are eight units arranged from lowest to highest: Max Epsilon, Max Delta, Max Gamma, Max Beta, Max Alpha, Max Theta, Max Sigma, and Max Omega. Each unit is divided into 21 levels by 50s as ranks. (e.g. Max Gamma X, Max Gamma 50, Max Gamma 100, etc.) Also, this is where we get to see who the spy is, and who he picked. The identity of the unlucky FE GK, who ever he or she is, is practically a give-away. One more thing: PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE SEND ME YOUR REVIEWS!!! I need to know if you're still reading my stuff! I need your opinions! I'm spending at least 50% of my free time trying to finish this, leaving little time for me to study, you know.

Chapter 4: Unnatural Selection 

            Command Room, AEGIS FE HQ, Under Tategami High School, Jan 10. 1971…

            It was just a few moments ago that the tracking system was able to detect a level Max Gamma 650 Gate emission from downtown Tokyo; the Business district to be exact. "I want a search and retrieval team out there now!" Shirei ordered, pointing on that location on the main screen map, "Bring him or her back here, and find out who he or she is working for." _Max Gamma 650… That is almost an entire unit higher than Captain Ukiya's greatest output, Max Delta 800._ He thought,_ It's not possible for any Gatekeeper I know to reach that level. Even the mysterious Houju would have a hard time doing so._ Unfortunately for Shirei and all the other branches of AEGIS, the existence of the Templar Gatekeepers was kept a secret by AEGIS United. To the other branches, they were considered as regular Gatekeepers or just plain ordinary AEGIS members. They did not know that they were detecting the only the residual energies of Maya's Shift Gateway.

            Suddenly, the area around Tokyo tower began to blink blue. "Sir," One of the technicians said, "A memory beacon appears to have activated."

            "A memory beacon?" AEGIS had constructed the memory beacon system in order to save important map data that could have been left unattended to during a main screen conversation. It would automatically activate itself and show a replay of the signal in a blue highlight. "Display the data." Statistics and measurements replaced the map shortly as they scrolled up very quickly, until the point where it shifted back to its original state as a map.

            One of the technicians looked up, "Sir, It was a negative Gate discharge. Calculations estimate it to be at Max Gamma 500 or higher." It was what was left from Goddarov's recent Gate Transit Action from AEGIS US HQ to Japan.

            "First Max Gamma 650, now Max Gamma 500?" he pondered these matters momentarily, "Is it the same one?"

            "No sir. This Gate's frequency is different from the other's." It was then that the faint sound of gunfire erupted fro somewhere in the base.

            "Where did that come from?" Shirei inquired, frustrated at this unpleasant surprise. The map now changed to a green, translucent three-dimensional model of the base, with one area marked Block 17, blinking a fiery orange-red.

            "Block 17, sir. There appear to be electromagnetic radio waves pulsating from the sector."

            "So, the invaders have snuck into the base again, eh?" He was getting more annoyed than angry at them getting into the base again. _Not at this crucial moment!_ He thought as he cursed mentally. "Lock the area down and send in security units three, six, eight, and 12."

            "But sir, they're the last active security teams we have!" This technician was the worrywart and argued a lot with Shirei, although he didn't seem to mind. Shirei just looked at him piercingly for a few moments; until he finally complied with Shirei's command, "Yes sir."

            A few moments later, at least forty armed guards hurried through the hallway in double file (can I say that?) towards the infected area. 

==========

            Hallway Intersection1, Block 17, AEGIS FE HQ, Under Tategami High School…

            Shiro Takamiya, a guard, was at his post, reading the latest fashion magazine, his AS-12 automatic shotgun by his side, when he began to hear a strong and commanding voice in his head, _Report on your ztatus._ It said in a German accent.

            _I have completed my observations, and have selected the most potential candidate, _he replied.

            _Good. Zend me zee invormation provile  now._

_            At once, master._ He took a small device the size of a golf ball from his pocket that had an even smaller screen on it, with numbers and jargon displayed. He pushed a petite, little red button on it, and the information scrolled up. The device then disappeared. _It is done. Are there any further orders?_

_            Eliminate all nearby zecurity unitz und return to zee ztaging point._

_            Understood. _Setting the magazine aside, he looked at his partner, sitting beside him, reading the newspaper, and asked the man, "Did you ever consider early retirement?

            The other guard was taken aback, "At this age? Are you nuts!?"

            "Well actually, I was thinking… why don't you quit early. There has to be something you would like to do."

            "Like what?"

            "I don't know. Hobbies maybe? Like fishing, following your dream and becoming a golf superstar, engage in ceramics?"

            "Heh!" Shiro's partner smirked at his wild suggestions for how to spend his 'early retirement', "I'd rather work hard everyday, making sure the Earth is safe from invaders, than spending the my retired life always looking over my shoulder and fearing people who wear sunglasses." He went back to his 'informative' reading material.

            "Well, as I see it, AEGIS Far East already has more than enough troops to act as backup in case our Gatekeepers fail. Know what I mean?"

            "I guess so." The guard made a thoughtful hmm… as he got back into his conversation, "I think I will retire early. There's only one problem, though."

            "What's that?"

            "I'm practically broke! I don't have any money in the bank, I barely have enough food to feed myself everyday, and the bills keep getting more expensive by the month!" he began to sulk.

            Shiro placed a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder, "Don't worry. I can help you."

            "Really? How? Magic?" He said mockingly.

            "No." Shiro tensed. "Human technology."

            "What kind of human technology gets rid of people's problems?" he heard the pumping of a shotgun as a reply.

            "This."

            The man looked up to see Shiro's shotgun leveled at him, "Hey, man! You're kidding, right!?"

            "Nope. I'm going to give you just what you wanted, early retirement."

            "Shiro! What are you doing!?"

            "Sorry, Shiro Takamiya is not available at the moment." His face became mad and twisted, his voice monotone and robotic, "Please leave a message after the beep." He made a sound that resembled an answering machine's beep.

            "And why aren't you available at the moment!?"

            "Because Shiro Takamiya never existed in the first place." He replied as he donned a pair of sunglasses with his left hand. (His right hand is holding the shotgun. Remember?) He transformed into a core invader, with five loaded holsters on either side of his torso, thus having a total count of 11 guns, the shotgun included.

            "HOLY SHIT!" was the last thing the guard was able to say before it blew him away with a blast of buckshot.

            Soon, a large group, about forty, of armed men rushed into the room, their rifles trained at the invader. Their faces turned bitter when they saw the other guard sprawled on the floor a few feet from where he once stood before Shiro shot him, all twisted and bloody. "You wanna fight?" Shiro asked them tauntingly. 

            "Open fire, men!" The captain ordered. A hail of bullets was unleashed at the invader, who dodged all of them with surprising speed.

            Stopping to aim its shotgun at them, the invader said, "Now it's my turn!" it began to strafe from side to side while buckshot rounds, composed of nine lead balls packed into one round for scattering shots, effective against large groups, were launched at the crowd of AEGIS troops. They dropped dead, two at a time, until the point that it had used up all of its shotgun ammunition.

            Again, the soldiers opened fire. "You wanna play tough, eh?" It drew out the pistols from the uppermost holsters, and began shooting blindly, as it evaded the AEGIS enforcers' bullets. It threw them away and picked up the next pair as soon as the first two were completely out of lead. This firefight continued until its last two pistols, revolvers, were almost out. 

         There were at least five soldiers left, most of them critically wounded, hiding in the hallway perpendicular to the invader's location. It was about to go around the corner and finish them off, when it heard a voice in its head, _Zat's enough. Prepare to be tranzported._

_         Yes, master._ It replied as an array of black rings appeared beneath it and gobbled it up.

==========

Command Room, AEGIS FE HQ, A few minutes later…

         "Sir," One of the technicians piped, "The signal disappeared."

         "Anything else?"

         "We were also able to pick up what appears to be negative Gate signals on a scale of Max Beta 950 or higher just before the signal vanished."

         "So they were being controlled by a negative Gatekeeper, eh?" He's detected enough high-level Gate signals this day to make him want to go home and hide under his covers.

         "There was only one."

         "WHAT!?" _Is it possible for a single invader to do this much damage? "Find the video record of the battle."_

         "At once, sir." The technician tapped a few keys on his console, and the 3D map of the base was replaced with a video clip, showing the core invader running around, emptying bullets at the soldiers.

         "Play the earlier file from before Electromagnetic Radio waves were detected." It switched to the scene where Shiro was sending the information away to his master; Shirei noticed Shiro's hand movements, "Pause it and magnify that area," He said, pointing at the general direction of the guard's hand. It enlarged to reveal Shiro holding a shiny silver ball, just about to push the button, "Play." The scene continued. Shiro pushed the button and had the conversation with his partner about early retirement, and just before the security squads rushed in, Shirei ordered that the file be stopped.

         "Judging from his earlier actions with the ball, he knew he was an invader before the transformation signal is given."

         "So?"

         "Pull up his profile and social interaction observations. I want to see one more thing." 

         "Yes sir." The technician tapped several keys in a certain order, pulling up the Data on Shiro from the archives. His information showed up a little while later, with the observations as well.

         "Impossible!" Shirei was shocked at something he saw under the social interaction observations.

         "What?"

         "According to this file, he was a completely nice guy!"

         "So he's a Fukuowa type invader?" the technician asked for clarity.

         "No. The human forms of both the normal and Fukuowa type invaders have negative social attitudes, thus classifying them as jerks. This property differentiates them from most normal humans."

         "You're trying to say that—" Shirei cut him off…

         "This is neither the normal kind or Fukuowa type invader. This is a whole new breed that knows what he is in human form and blends in socially. They know we are on to their problems in social interactions…"

         "Sir?" another technician raised her hand.

         "What is it?"

         "Just a question; what are you going to name this new type?"

         "I'll have to discuss this with headquarters. Transmit the information to AEGIS United."

         "Yes, sir."

         "Oh, I almost forgot. Give me the casualty status of the battle."

         The technicians began to work furiously on their consoles until one said, "Security unit eight has been completely wiped out, unit three's status is pending, units six and 12 have wounded and are not looking too good."

         "Send in the medics."

         "Yes sir."

         Another technician piped in, "Sir, what are we going to do if the invaders attack?"

         "Call in the Gatekeepers. We're going to have to nominate a Sentinel."

==========

         Warehouse 36, Fujima Enterprises Warehouse District, Tokyo Bay Harbor…

         Hans Cartegie's eyes were illuminated thanks to his Gate being used as a transport medium by his spy. A set of black rings was on the cemented floor, with half an invader's body already out. The Gate closed when it was completely out of the dark pathway.

         "A job vell done, Zhiro!" Cartegie applauded.

         "Thank you sir."

         "Now for my end of zee bargain… Your revard."

         "My reward, sir?"

         "Yes, your revard." Cartegie opened his Gate and glanced wickedly at the surprised invader.

         "What are you doing!?"

         "Just az you said, I'm giving you your revard. You have served your purpose, zo now your revard is zis early retirement you have been babbling about! Guardian Vorm!" The ground just in front of Cartegie began to shake violently as a series of cracks appeared. Not a moment later, a huge purple worm with three separate lips (as in upper, lower, etc…) appeared and struck so quickly that nobody noticed it swallowing the invader whole. The worm made a discontented groan that sounded more like rumbling ground.

         "Vhat's zat, boy?" Cartegie patted the massive creature on the head, " Ztill hungry?" the worm somewhat nodded, "Don't vorry. Vhen I find a zuitable opponent for you, I'm sure you vill be very zatisvied." The worm made another reverberating noise and sank back into the ground, the crevice disappearing above it.

         Cartegie examined the sheet of paper he held in his hand; it had the picture of a young teenage girl. Konoe, Kaoru — Gender: Female, Age: 17, Height: 153 cm, Hair Color: Brown, Date of Birth: July 3, 1953, Gate Power: Close Combat, Negative Reciprocal (Calculated): Gate of Chaotic Power, Highest Gate Output: Max Delta 700, Emotional Weakness: Possible Jealousy, Profile Established When and by Whom: Jan. 4, 1971, by Takamiya, Shiro,— Civil Status: Single, Current Status: Alive.

         Cartegie chuckled evilly at the thought of somebody with such potential under his command. His scheming daydream was interrupted, however, when Goddarov waltzed into the room, carrying a stack of comics, "Oh, so you got da profile already?"

         "Yes." Cartegie replied blankly.

         "Where is da spy?" Goddarov's head paced from left to right, scanning the room for Shiro.

         "I finished him off. He has already zerved his purpose."

         "Aw, too bad. I really wanted to meet him."

         Cartegie then realized that Goddarov had been missing, "Vhere have you been, Alexei!?"

         Goddarov racked his brain for an acceptable answer, "Eh… I was… uh… out to lunch."

         "For zee past three hourz?"

         "Well, uh… I commuted. Yes, dat's it! I commuted!" He was now just thinking of stupid excuses to make up in order to get Cartegie's probing thoughts off of him.

         "You have a Gate, Alexei. Vhy didn't you engage in GTA?"

         "I didn't want da Far East Branch to detect me."

"Zat vas a very poor excuse for an excuse. Vhat else did you do?"

         "Alright! I… went shopping." Goddarov admitted.

         Cartegie's face turned dull, "Shopping? For vhat?" he examined the pile of paper stacked up together. His eyes widened in irritation when he saw what Alexei had spent 10,000 yen on and exploded, "Manga!? You bought Manga!?"

         "It's da latest issue of Doraemon! I like reading Doraemon."

         Cartegie opened one comic and held it open, facing Goddarov, "How do you ekzpect to read Japaneeze vords, zee ztrip from right to left!?"

         "Eh… I don't read da words. I just look at da pictures." He thought for a moment, "I didn't know dat Japanese comics were read from right to left. So dat's why da plot didn't make any sense."

         Cartegie slapped himself on the forehead. "You are hopeless!"

         Goddarov snatched the piece of paper from Cartegie and scrutinized it shortly, stopping to say, "So, dis is da one? Judging from her highest Gate output, I'd say we'd be doing better off widout her."

         "Zat can be taken care of. I can alvays train her to truly master her Gate, zus making her a Templar Gatekeeper. Remember zat Templar Gatekeepers are ones who have truly mastered zeir Gates."

         "But da question is, how do you convert her? What, are you going to do what Shadow did? Rape her?" he slightly paled at the thought of somebody as old as Hans Cartegie doing… _That._

         "No, I have a faster solution." He pointed upward with his right index finger. A second later, a small silver sphere the size of a golf ball materialized, which he grasped and held as though it was his most cherished possession, "Vith zis."

         "What, you're going to hit her on da head and give her amnesia? She might even forget she dat she has a Gate!" Goddarov obviously didn't get the subject.

         "No, you idiot! Zis is zee Negative Emotion Synchronism Emulator."

         "What does it do?"

         "It Emulates zee Synchronism of Negative Emotions."

         "What?"

         Cartegie decided to just demonstrate his fiendish little device's capabilities to his somewhat half-witted companion, "Do you mind standing over zere, Alexei?"

         "No, not at all." Goddarov walked over to the area where Cartegie was pointing, and stood.

         "Good. Now I vill show you vhat zis zing can do." Cartegie pitched the petite little orb at Goddarov. The Russian did not even notice the small gadget sink into his chest.

         "What was dat?"

         "Oh, nozing." Cartegie replied innocently, "I just vanted to zay… Boo!"

         Cartegie's sudden outburst scared the living daylights out of Goddarov, although it was not normal for him to be such a fraidycat. That was mainly because the NESE was inducing pure, unfiltered fear into Goddarov's senses. He recoiled in total fear and made a mad dash towards the corner, where he just coiled up and cowered, shaking. "Get away from me, vile monster!" Goddarov shouted at the approaching Cartegie.

         Cartegie stooped down and said, "You know, you look just like your grandmozer. Zpeaking of vhich, did you really know who killed her?"

         "No, but I'd definitely love to crush da one responsible for it!" He was now being fed with anger and hatred by the NESE. It was true, he did not know who had done such a vile thing as murdering an innocent old woman such as Minka Pyotrich Goddarov who spent most of her life doing good things for the people of a small village in a desolate area on the banks of the Kotuy River in Siberia. It just didn't make any sense. Why? Why did it have to be his Babushka? She was so kind, gentle, loving. He never did find out who was responsible for this heinous act. Some said it was the Soviet army, taking the taxes' worth of 'sacrifice'. Others said that the raiders were getting cleverer, and still, some said that it was a local criminal.

         "Vhat if I told you zat I did it?" Cartegie asked slyly, putting on a special Gate Measurement device he had developed by himself.

         That last remark made Goddarov explode. He removed the gem from his ring, and shouted, "Unlock the Gate!" his eyes and inner Gate showed the amount of pure, unsiphoned anger that the NESE had added to the already great amount that resided in his heart. "Final Weapon! August Dream Blade!" A dark blue, crescent blade over a meter long materialized, the awkward handle in his grasp. "Dis is for Babushka!" He made a mad dash at Cartegie, who was tinkering with his gadget. The numbers and letters showing up on the eyepiece were measuring Goddarov's current Gate output.

         "Max Beta 500; very good, Alexei." Cartegie evaded Goddarov's repeated slashes with accurate precision and ease. He jumped up and shouted, "Para Spore!" as he tossed a fluffy orb the size of a baseball, paralyzing Goddarov on contact.

         "What da hell is dis!?" He tried to move his body, but to no avail. He just would not budge.

         "Calm down, Alexei. Everyzing I told you just now vere all lies." He stretched his hand towards Goddarov, in his mind commanding the NESE to return to him. It jumped out of Goddarov, Cartegie catching it just before it would zip past him. He snapped his fingers, and Goddarov crumbled, drained of all his strength, his hat blown all the way across the room.

         "What happened? Why did I react like dat?"

         "Zat vas zee effect of zee NESE. A pervect demonstration if I might zay zo myself, und I do."

         "So dat's how you're going to convert her?" he recollected his hat.

         "Using zis," he said, looking at the prize in his hand, "Und vith a little psychological varfare." His tone became serious again, "I need you to do me anozer favor, Alexei. Zis is part of zee third phase of my grand scheme."

         "What?" he fluffed up his hat like a little pillow.

         "I vant you to go downtown und wreak as much havoc as possible. Draw out zee Far Eazt's branch's Gatekeepers." He began tossing the ball playfully.

         "Den what?" He put his hat back on.

         "Vatch out for zat girl, und bring her back here." 

         "And what about da oders?"

         "Deal vith zem as you deem fit."

         "Of course." He unlocked the Gate and disappeared into the Gate Transit Tear that appeared beneath him.

==========

 The Mall, Downtown Tokyo…

         Eve allowed Maya to rest on her lap. _Generating something as energy consuming as a Shift Gateway must really be draining, especially for somebody as young as her. She looked up to see Kyle, who was picking up several Gate Frequencies in several areas with AEGIS's special Gate Tracking Devices._

         "I've picked up some High-level frequencies here. There was a Max Beta 950 emission from AEGIS FE. Later, Max Alpha X, and Max Beta 500 waves practically exploded from somewhere by the harbor." He paused shortly to figure out what all of that meant, "Looks like we're up against the strongest, here."

         "So you're tying to say that the enemy is powerful." Eve said, staring far at the distance.

         "Yeah, and I've got a bad feeling about this mission." His watch communicator chirped. He answered the call to see who it was, "Donnehue here."

         Bates was on the other side, "Listen, Kyle. We've received word just a few minutes ago. The spy has left the Far East Branch, and it's in total chaos."

         "What? Just when we were about to go there and pound his ass? Damn!" he cursed, "How's everybody over there?"

         "They've lost practically all remaining security teams and have considered nominating a Sentinel Gatekeeper from their party." In case of lack of security teams, AEGIS Commanders were given the authority to nominate a Sentinel Gatekeeper from their party to keep watch over the base during a major sortie.

         "Wait a minute… what ever happened to total radio silence?" Kyle became suspicious of Bates' actions.

         "Forget that! This is a mission redirect. Your new objectives are to find Cartegie and Goddarov and arrest them. Aid the Far East Branch if needed. But whatever you do, make sure they don't know that you helped them." Bates tensed, "I trust you, Kyle. I know that you won't let us down."

         "No problem, Commander."

         "Kyle, I want you to call me the way you used to before you joined AEGIS 15 years ago just one more time." Bates softened.

         "Of course, I'll never forget about that … uncle." He slightly smiled as he said, "Over and out," as he closed the channel. He could remember the days he spent in New York, getting into fights in school most of the time, other people always picking on him just because he did things differently – deviant was the word to describe him. The only person in school who ever backed him up was his best friend, Mike. Then the time came when Mike had moved away, leaving him with what, nobody! 

His parents encouraged him to take up martial arts for self defense when he was just seven, and that he did. Taking up several martial arts courses such as Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, and Aikido simultaneously, he had an extremely tight schedule that left little time for play. Having a hard time with these, he was not able to finish any of them at all until he was 14.

He was 13 at the time that he was running home late, seven o'clock to be exact, when he wound up in an alley, surrounded by five thugs. He was still having some trouble with his lessons and was not able to practice much at the time. _Gangsters! He thought as he prepared for their attack._

         "Hey, kid," One of them, wearing a black leather jacket and jeans said, "Don't 'tcha know?"

         "Know what?" Kyle asked, aggravated.

         "If ya pass through Jackass territory," said a Negro with a green punk hairdo and matching outfit.

         "Ya gotta have some kinda tribute ready fer us!" another one, with a square face and red T-shirt finished the second's sentence.

         Kyle only let out a huff, "Tribute? Parasitic lawbreakers like you don't deserve tribute!"

         "What did you say!?" the second retorted.

         "I'm only telling the truth." Kyle replied sardonically, "Besides, who'd want to give your so called 'tribute' to someone who looks like he's already robbed enough tribute's worth of money from the nearest bank?"

         The third only growled at Kyle, who, for his age was appeared to be very audacious even when threatened by five hooligans with knives in a dark alley.

         "Frisk 'im, Jigs!" The first one ordered irately. Another one, who wore a pair of brass knuckles, walked up to Kyle, shoved him to the wall, and began to search for some valuables he could have been hiding. 

Apparently, the hoodlum found Kyle' wallet, and was just about opening it, when Kyle was able to slip free of his grasp, and throw a solid right at his face, knocking the surprised goon to the ground. Kyle did not stop there, however. As the latter slowly got to his feet, Kyle did a roundhouse kick that sent the unfortunate man sailing into his companions who had just realized what had happened, and were rushing to help.

The gang leader, the one in a jacket, shouted, "Dog Pile!" as the other three jumped at Kyle, who didn't expect something like that to be done about him, thus pinning him to the ground. They began to give poor Kyle an extremely raw beating. 

Through abrasions and bruises, he could still call to mind and apply what he was taught. _Do not ignore the pain, a voice rang in his head, __it will only make the sensation worse. He continued to recall, __Focus on it instead, so that the more you think about the pain, the more you will realize that it exists only in the mind. True pain is caused by severe damage to your body. Thus, bruises and cuts, although said to be painful, are only trivial sores on the strong wall that is your flesh. He began to focus on each punch and kick that made contact with his being. They no longer felt painful; only swift, soft pokes were felt._

Suddenly, a strange rush of energy flowed through him. He felt as though he was going to burst. He shouted at the top of his lungs just as a set of white rings appeared in his eyes and he was enveloped in a strange white light. That scared those crooks away. He weakly tried to get up, his orbs still holding the inner Gate, but collapsed. He had been found the next morning still unconscious in that alley by a passerby, and was brought to the police station for questioning. 

They did not believe him when he told them about the light that protected him, "This isn't the Twilight Zone, kid," they said as he was sent home. _Good thing it's a Saturday, today, he thought as he ambled down the front steps of the 6th precinct. He came home at ten o'clock; his parents worried sick, standing by the phone, waiting for the police to call again. They called up earlier and told the Donnehues that Kyle was found unconscious in an alley, although nothing was stolen from him._

"Mom, Dad, I'm home." He said solemnly.

"Kyle!" they said in unison, "What happened last night?"

"I was going home late last night due to a science project I have to complete, but some goons chased me into an alley. They tried mugging me, but I fought."

"It's a good thing we encouraged you to join those martial arts courses." Mr. Donnehue said.

"I know, Dad. Those lessons really paid off." Kyle answered, smirking.

Just then, the phone rang. His mother answered it, "Hello?"

Bates was on the other line, "Good morning Betty. I heard about Kyle. How is the young man?"

"Oh, it's you, Steve." She said in recognition, "He's fine. Why'd you call?"

"Oh, I just called to say that I'm going over there sometime next week to have a talk with you."

"That'd be nice."

"And Kyle."

"Of course! It's been five years since he last saw you! It's best that you come!"

"Has it been that long?" Bates laughed casually, "I must be getting too old to notice the time fly by!"

"Right."

"Well, that's all I have to say right now. See you next week. Bye."

"Bye." She put the phone down.

"Who was it?" Mr. Donnehue asked. He appeared tense.

"Oh, Josh, lighten up! It's only Steve!"

"Steve? When was the last time he came here? It's been so long I can hardly remember!"

"You'll see."

         Bates, his uncle on the side of his father's mother, came over to their house the following week to recruit Kyle. "Government business – we'll be taking care of him from now on," was all he said as he and a couple of armed men escorted Kyle to a black limousine parked outside. He never saw his parents ever again.

"Kyle, we have a situation here. I'm picking something up!" The flow of memories of Kyle's childhood was interrupted by Eve's sudden statement.

"What is it?" Kyle glanced at the monitor of the laptop Tracking System, "Looks like an electromagnetic radio wave emission from somewhere nearby…"

==========

         Rooftop Floor, Tameyaki Building, Business District, Downtown Tokyo…

         He looked down on the streets below, filled with unsuspecting, though blameworthy people, guilty of the many crimes they had yet to commit. To Goddarov, they all had the same face: pale, robotic, shades-clad and hat wearing. In every person who was not a Gatekeeper, he saw the nameless, faceless conspirators that were part of the dark army, which was once used to take over the country.

         He took a final glance around him to make sure that there were no witnesses, and asked himself, "Why send an invader to do a Templar's job?" he double-tapped the small device on his belt anyway. It began to produce a high-pitched sound that the nearby people on street level heard and began to react strangely to.

         "Wh…what? R…return t…to my t…true self?" dropping his briefcase, a middle-aged man in a business suit clutched on his head as though he were going insane. He was hearing voices in his head, _Awaken, slave, and perform what I bid! The voice commanded. He stood aloof a second later and donning a pair of sunglasses, said, "Resistance is futile." He transformed into a core invader just in time for a mass of other people to march by him like soldiers prepared for battle, "Commence the operation." He said. The people in the crowd simultaneously donned their own pairs of shades, revealing a group of invaders ready to strike._

==========

Command Room, AEGIS Far East Branch…

         "Sir, detecting high levels of electromagnetic radio waves in the Downtown Tokyo Business District." One of the three technicians positioned at the console announced, "Orders?"

         "Call in the Gatekeeper Party."

         "What about the Sentinel, sir?"

         "I've made my decision." He focused his attention at the blinking red dot on an area on the map that looked like a city, "Tell agent Konoe to remain in the command center after the others have left."

         "Yes sir."

==========

AN: How'd ya like that? You'll see what happens next chapter!


End file.
